BlackBerry 10 announced. Does Windows Phone have something to fear?

With two new devices, the Q10 (traditional qwerty phone) and the Z10 (traditional slab touchscreen) and an early global launch including all 4 US carriers by March, the Waterloo company has done an impressive mini-comeback.

The question is, is it enough?

What BB10 has going for it

A fairer media? There’s little doubt that when it comes to positive PR, BlackBerry has it in spades compared to Microsoft. The media so far has been a lot more enthusiastic or even forgiving of BlackBerry 10 when compared to anything Microsoft does these days. Because of this, BlackBerry can expect to ride a wave of positive press coverage as clearly they are the favored under-dog.

Carriers heart RIM. Likewise with carriers. RIM has always had strong carrier relations and the fact that they can launch on all four US carriers in addition to some major players in the UK is testament to that fact, something for which Microsoft struggles. Windows Phone users (especially on Sprint) have to feel the sting quite a bit today: here’s an untested OS and hardware being picked up by Sprint on day 1, meanwhile Windows Phone 8 is coming nearly 8 months after its release.

Legacy. There’s a reason why our sister site is called ‘CrackBerry’. Users of RIM products are a dedicated bunch and they’ve been steadfastly holding on for BB10 for nearly two years now. Microsoft rarely gets so much dedication and Microsoft’s image is often that of a “necessary evil”. Things are changing though for the better since 2012.

Hardware reliability. Say what you will about BlackBerry but much like Palm, their hardware is generally quite good. Not Apple good. Not Nokia good. But better than many Android phones on the market and that bold, almost garish BlackBerry logo emblazoned across the Z10 and Q10 is a reminder that they stand behind their work.

A messy UI with no central focal point

What BB10 has going against it?

Momentum (the other guy’s). Right now Apple and Android are steamrolling back and forth across the mobile landscape, vacuuming up customers left and right. What bits are left over has been going to Microsoft’s Windows Phone with 2012-2013 looking to be a turning point for Redmond and their partners.

But even though Windows Phone has failed to “explode”, its growth is four times what it was a year ago and had has been very steady for quite some time. With compelling hardware like the HTC 8X and bold Lumia 920 (not to mention the in-between ranges) can BlackBerry effectively compete with just two, conservative and perhaps even generic looking devices?

The OS is boring. Yeah, we’re going there. While our friends at CrackBerry are gushing over the new OS and its functionality, we think it’s quite bland. It’s your typical “Icons everywhere” UI that looks very much like iOS, Android and even MeeGo, is nothing to get excited about.

Will it work well? We haven’t had extensive time with it but we’re confident BlackBerry did a good enough job that most users will get things done, but it’s not a game-changing UI but rather another retread. That may have worked 3 years ago but in today’s market you either innovate or move on.

Icon: Been there, done that

No ecosystem or desktop. Bad for enterprise? In reading CrackBerry’s review, you’ll notice the word “desktop” is mentioned twice--once in regards to a browser comparison, the other about BlackBerry Link (desktop management app).

But BlackBerry 10 has no Office in it, no SkyDrive, no OneNote (though they tried with ‘Remember’), no Lync, no GroupMe, no Yammer or no SharePiont. All the apps and services live on the phone with no way to do real time collaboration with people not on your mobile OS.

Sure, Microsoft’s Xbox Video is a mess right now on Windows Phone but at least they have a game plan—three screens and a cloud. The idea that you can purchase Xbox Music and Video and play it on your PC, Mac, TV (Xbox 360) or phone gives people what they want: their media everywhere. How will BlackBerry 10 do that?

Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 are coming closer and closer together. Whether it is SmartGlass or Office or SkyDrive, the two operating systems will allow users to have a desktop, tablet and mobile phone experience that is all similar. BlackBerry cannot compete with that environment and lacks that synergy.

The App Gap. Lots of attention was focused on how many apps BlackBerry 10 is supposedly launching with. Actually, what we heard a lot of were announcements and companies being “committed” to BB10. That’s a bit different than actually having the apps ready. Here are the “big title” apps announced today:

In other words, there’s no app advantage for BB10 right now and we’re doubtful it will surpass Windows Phone anytime soon.

And gaming is downright pathetic. Although we’ve been harsh and upfront about Xbox gaming on Windows Phone, it is still in a better long term position than BB10 will be…unless you really thing “Where’s my Water” will edge out our “Where’s my Water”.

Excuse me, Is that an iPhone 5?

Hardware is boring. When compared to the HTC 8X or Nokia Lumia 920, BlackBerry’s new hardware is not exactly that exciting looking. In fact it’s downright generic. Granted, those in business and enterprise may preferred a “toned down” phone compared to a Cyan or California Blue device, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for regular consumers either. What kid will yearn for the Z10?

Fact is, Nokia and HTC are creating some real works of art when it comes to hardware: beautiful and more than functional. Even the entry level Lumia 620 is one looker of a device. Nokia PureView, PureMotion, Beats Audio, Dolby Headphones, ClearBlack display, wireless charging? All neat and useful hardware innovations available on select Windows Phones. BlackBerry 10? Not so much.

Which leads us to…

Is BB10 more pretty than this?

What’s Coming Next. Rumor has it in a few weeks Nokia will announce a new flagship camera phone, possibly sporting a 41MP PureView camera in addition to a new aluminum based body for an updated Lumia look in 2013.

Who doubts that Nokia will continue to out-innovate everyone in the hardware field in both terms of new functions and looks in 2013? BB10 may be all business but Nokia knows style. They also know how to push boundaries.

But we’ll let BlackBerry 10 have its day as they do deserve credit for pulling off new hardware and a new OS. We have a feeling though that on February 25th, the world will see some true next generation hardware on a truly innovative OS.

You can read pretty much any independant (non fanboy) review. Although I haven't heard anything bad about the browser, (it is allegedly quite excellent), the camera is really awful, especially in low light, and the battery life is awful as well. Most sites say that the Z10 is pretty decent...for a blackberry.

Hopefully with Microsoft paging them to cone back to the hardware game, we can expect to see venue pro 2 with slimmer, better design in terms of sealing the product so no dusts can get into the screen and soft textured keyboard that doesn't wore off in less than a month

Completely agree. The DVP was a POS device no matter what anyone else says IMO. However, if you had a poll, I truly wonder how many people would want a portrait slider physical keyboard. I'd wager not more than 10% of the particiants.

Ecosystems will win this when it's all said and done. Microsoft, Apple and Google all have solid foundations right now and can all build and expand upon them. BlackBerry is just... a phone? Sure it can tie into 3rd party services...but that's up to those 3rd party services to built and integrate into BB10. I think RIM is at a disadvantage when it comes to their ecosystem growing overtime.

I think I read an article yesterday saying that there was this software with 100,000 downloads, and was just released, thinking the name if the software was called codex, anywho, it allows developers to write an app, and convert the code to any platform .

Windows Phone have something to fear
yes, the live stream video was just perfect,, all those apps
and total intergreted into society
and global global availability of there product,, that is microsoft problem
i can not still buy the surface in denmark
and a werry smart tuch screen , swipe with one hand ,, it beat microsoft
but is still love windows phone,, but the next one that is the ?
Michael

I don't know if you're being a wise-ass but I'll take "30 min" tiles over icons that do nothing.
And if you want instantly updating live tiles there are several sports apps that update scores on a tile nearly instantaneously..

Ever since the blackberry storm I refuse to ever even touch a blackberry smartphone. That phone nearly drove me insane and while the new version looks slick.....blackberry storm has destroyed any interest in me liking blackberry ever again no matter how great the new version would be.

I get that feeling too. You will notice how little windows phone is mentioned in any article or presentation. They need to get the PR machine running or they will fade. I love my WP8 920 but very few seem to even know it exists.

I doubt that. Normally the reason for not making a WP app is marketshare. The BB10 marketshare is a lot smaller than the WP marketshare at this point. That's why you are slowly seeing the larger banks starting to make banking apps for WP. It's getting large enough that you can't just ignore it anymore. As far as instagram I have to imagine it will be integrated into WP before BB. If for no other reason the Facebook <-> Microsoft relationship. Also as far as games we know the game engines are being ported to WP - what about BB?

You're only half right. Sprint is only carrying Q10 and not the Z10. And that phone won't be out till like april or something. So it's more like Sprint is just in it for the iphones now then anything else

I think that I have become a WP fanboy because everything i look at on BB10 looks terrible. It's totally unorganized and cluttered and there is no real home screen. It looks like they have taken the worst parts of ios and android and pasted them together and called it an os. Not to mention the fact that ported android apps run in an android 2.3 emulator. Android 2.3 Really? that's awful.

while I don't expect you to ever like anything that's not from Microsoft, you could at least spend a decent amount of hands on time with the OS before making comparisons. There are a lot of really good things about BB10 like proper multi-tasking, an actual fricking Facebook app and DAV support, just to name a few.
Similarly there are tons of good things on Windows Phone as well. The UI and the hardware is simply best in class.
Immediately implying that WP has nothing to fear is a bit shortsighted. Kind of like how Steve Ballmer laughed off the iPhone and Android OS.

Microsoft did announce Skype on BB10 though. Let's hope that they manage to get their sh1t together and produce a usable version of Skype for WP8 before it arrives on BB10. Though on current performance it doesn't seem very likely as we are still in a very uninspiring preview/beta/"whatever you want to call it fudge it together" release.

I could see my girlfriend buying the Z10 because she just likes Blackberry due to familiarity. I think the phones look nice, and the OS looks clean. But if I didn't love WP the way I do, I can't see myself making a concious decision to pick this over an Android device.

That's kind if hypocritical don't you think? You sound like the people who said the same about WP when it was released.. I used to hate how they said WP was to late, and was not good because it didn't have sufficient apps.. I hope WP succeeds further than BB but I refuse to be like those haters from Apple and Google.

I totally agree with. They have their plus sides and their minus sides. I'll never become a blackberry user. When I saw what my brother's bold was (not) capable of, it permanently banned me out of blackberry world.

i agree, this site has pretty balanced articles compared to the crapfest that is imore, i went there after i got my ipad mini to see if there were some good apps i hadn't heard about and all they do is jerk off to anything apple does and bash everyone else. terrible terrible writing. i stopped going there completely after i scrolled through the first page of absolute trash articles.

I agree. I have become a fan of this website. Even though I had once received an email reply from Daniel that was a bit harsh. My lack of knowledge was targeted but maybe he was just in a bad mood that day.

I don't think Windows Phone will be in any trouble at all. Though I really love Blackberry notifications. Microsoft really have to improve on the little things that make the biggest impact because their foundation is already solid.

Like someone said earlier it comes down to ecosystems. Apple has their house, Microsoft has their house and so does Google. Blackberry is trying but if people said Microsoft was late and their struggling for market share, then BlackBerry will really struggle in the U.S. particularly. I give them credit for government security and other things,it seems they have that on lock.

Not to be critical because I am a HUGE MS fan but if BB launches with all the games below then we may have something to worry about. These games are supposed to be coming to WP but when (I know we have some already)? Is it possible we get all these games before BB hits? I hope so but I am not confident. Where is Jetpack Joyride? Wasnt that supposed to come out before Christmas? Where are the Gameloft games? We didnt even get the add on levels for Angry Birds Star Wars yet and iOS and Android got them last year.

That is what worries me even more! Developers are bringing their AAA titles to an OS that is primarily used for business before WP. That isnt good. Gameloft and EA should be releasing their games for WP way before BB.

As becz the bb10 is just launch today they r trying to show people some eye catching titels. But wheter the bb can beat wp it solely depends on how stable their echosystem is. although they copy some hub concept from wp but they r not completely hub dependent. like in ms office hub people hub xbox game. they trying to copy from all os.

The thing is is BB has games even today that WP doesn't have, and it's primarily due to the programming. Over a year ago, I emailed a developer who had games on Symbian, iOS, Android, and BB; they even had their games on WebOS, but they would not/could not bring them to WP7; they said it was easier to port to the other platforms. That same developer, 10 Tons LTD, only just got one of their games on WP8 (it's called Joining Hands). Sadly, it's only one game - they have a stable of games!

"Does Windows Phone have something to fear?" Simple answer, yes. Microsoft should be in the mode of fear not only from BB, but from Apple, Google, etc. They should feel pressure to produce their utmost best at all times. As a person who have used Blackberries, iPhones, Android and WP I prefer Windows Phone over the others easily. But right now those who prefer WP phones are in the minority so Microsoft needs to do everything within it's power to ensure growth by producing the best software for the devices out there. They shouldn't be taking anything for granted.

True!.. Maybe BB10 is the best thing to ever happen to WP because it might inspire more motivation from MS and it's partners. Samsung, HTC, and Nokia have to react to BB10 at some point and maybe they will focus more on WP to fend of BB. Who knows.

Something i don't think has been mentioned as well is that companies with existing BES servers will be very reluctant to take on BB10 as the new OS and handsets aren't compatible with existing BES servers and the updated BES servers that do support BB10 aren't backwards compatible. No sane IT department would pay more just to support the new BB10 devices, unless they plan to remove all the older devices.
If you're already alienating your core user base before the product launches it can't work. At least with Windows Phone, iOS and Android you can connect to an existing Exchange server

Perhaps there is something to fear but I'm not seeing it. When I see BB10 then I see a fugly UI, no unique selling point and few apps. IMO Windows Phone has a beautiful UI, plenty of unique sellings points (the UI for starters) and plenty of apps now.

However research shows that 19% of consumers are interested in WP8 and 11% in BB10. I wouldnt be suprised if Microsoft and BBRY are competing for the same market the next two years. Its not as if a UI that I consider fugly hasnt been popular before. Both Android and iOS are doing very well for themselves but I think both are fugly. BB10 fits right in and therefore might be more attractive to joe average.

bb10 already has more of the top apps and support from many that currently arent there something WP can't say. Plus the grid of squares is pretty bland if you ask me. Not to mention bb has all the carriers on board for their high end devices, something that wp couldn't do.

While I love my 920 and want to see WP gain some marketshare, I think they do have a little to worry about. Blackberry probably does too. While they fell out of the picture for a while, Apple and Android and BYOD replaced the mentality that a Blackberry was the enterprise email phone. "There's an app for that" pounded the Apple name in the heads of many, especially those not into gadgets like folks on tech sites. That brand recognition that Apple (and Android) can do it all will continue to make it a tough road for WP and Blackberry. For WP, Blackberry still has some better brand recognition so that makes it all the tougher for WP.

On that note, I do think it's kinda lame for Nokia to be mentioning Blackberry in their social media posts today. As quality a product Nokia is, they need to let their products do the talking, not joke about eating Blackberries. Nokia and Microsoft seem to be a good pair because they are both pretty lame at trash talking.

Looks like another android phone. As a Canadian, I'm saddened to see BlackBerry fall so far, but it was their own lack of foresight. Now, I can't imagine them doing any better with BB10, its just not better enough than what's already available.

BB is like a suit. No one really wants to wear a suit, unless you're around other people that have to wear suits. When you get home, you hang it up. While I think this version is more comfortable at play, it's still a suit. Niche product, it will survive, not thrive.

I actually lol'd when the guy at the presentation went: We have "Where's my Water! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand Where's my Perry"
I mean can they be srious about this? The game principles are rip-offs, plus I downloaded them both when the were free for my L920. They are almost identical, only played a few levels.
But 2D games for children taken for their presentation? Like they're gonna get somebody go: "Holy crap they have "Where's my water"
They should have let out the Gaming part in the presentation, flagshipping those games is just hilarious and sad at the same time.

> But BlackBerry 10 has no Office in it, no SkyDrive, no OneNote (though they tried with ‘Remember’), no Lync, no GroupMe, no Yammer or no SharePiont. All the apps and services live on the phone with no way to do real time collaboration with people not on your mobile OS.

At least it has Gameloft games that we were promsied a year ago, gaming on WP is a joke now and RIM just beat it

Thanks for the article.
What I wonder is if Blackberry is "just" going to try to fight back where it is already well known and fairly wide-spread or if they're also going to try to get their foot in in countries where their devices are uncommon. If they do, they will have a similar challenge as WP: Youngish people in my area just don't find blackberries cool; they're known as phones for business people, especially bankers (and even inside banks, the iPhone has become much more widespread).
They have all the carriers on board in the U.S., but what about the rest of the world? Does anybody know? Just wondering.
I remember having a guest from the U.K. recently, and he was very surprised that he hardly sees any people with blackberries at all. Of course, my country is small, but also in our big n eighbour in the north (which is Germany), you don't see too many of them (at least I haven't).

All well and good to point and laugh at BB 10 but I bet it wont have problems opening PDf's, attaching docs to or editing forwarded emails. These are core business features that WP lacks and really make a mockery of any claim that WP is business ready. MS needs to step it up before they are relegated even further in the smartphone race.

@theefman...Good points. I could attach docs, pics, mp3s to my emails when I used my N8, and when I tried to attach a doc to an email using my Lumia 900, I was...speechless. I just don't understand Microsoft's reasonings behind this at all.

I think we should wait and see how is going to be the reaction of the people 'cause a lot of people that had blackberry now have an iphone or an android device ,so i dont think is gonna be easy recover that people that now have a new device.

I'm not one to completely dismiss a competing OS or phone, but there is really nothing I can get excited about with the new BB phones.
The Z10 looks bland and bulky (dare I even say, almost an iPhone wannabe). The OS looks much better than the old BB, but it looks like it has its share of nigles.
Out of all the missing apps, I find the lack of Netflix disturbing. Also, there is no Exchange Server support. If you are an enterprise user, you better hope your company has BBES.
I know they have their loyal following, but I don't see much hope for these phones to get traction.

Tech journalist seem to have a much longer memory when it comes to Microsoft's evil past. Meanwhile, consumers seem to have moved past it as evidenced by the most recent consumer trustworthiness survey.
Sites like all things d are up in arms over $AAPL stock decline and decreasing consumer sentiment, yet still happy to take shots at Microsoft over every step (or mis-step) they take.

Thanks for pointing out uTorrent Remote app he mustve missed that in his blind bashing, he might wanna take notice that just becasue it wasn't announced at the launch event doesn't mean it isn' t coming, as many of the apps he did list made their own press release. They have a developer conference next week which they will have more app announcements to keep momentum going

I live in Canada and I can really feel that the tech press here is more favorable to Blackberry, which was to be expected, but even journalists outside Canada. I think Blackberry will have some good sales because not everybody are into mobile like us and I think the average person will find the Z10 pretty nice.

Some valid points.
Sure no OneNote, but there is Evernote baked in (vastly supior in the mobile expeirence than OneNote mobile IMHO) and Docs to Go is also built-in, a great office suite.
And yes, while the current gaming situation is "pathetic", understand that QNX alreafdy has had the top 5 gaming engines ported to it. Meaning popular apps built for other platforms are a easy port. Something that hinders WP8 and WP8_RT. Look at the unsual amount of top teir games for the playbook. Compare that to the sad sack of games i can play on my surface right now. As a former BB user and current Surface/HTC 8x user, i am way more worried about the gaming situation on our platform.

I was worried about a month ago, but after a closer inspection of BB10, there is nothing in BB10 that can hold a candle to WP8 besides its chat screen sharing and partition space for personal/work.
The ecosystem isn't there, the apps are uninspiring, the UI is a mess, the OS is unpredictable, the hardware is lacking, and there is no innovation. It reminds me of Android running on the chassis of iPhone 5.
I'll cradle my L920 until the Lumia EOS comes out.

Nope, Windows Phone rules them all, period. There is one thing which is not quite correct in your article Daniel. You are mentioning WhatsApp as a announced app for BB10. But as I'm not mistaking, WhatsApp has stated that they have no immediate plans to develop WhatsApp for BB10. In fact, your collegues at Crackberry said it: http://crackberry.com/no-whatsapp-blackberry-10 That means the platform is sort of failing already... right?

Listen, you are talking about WP8 usage in enterprise but how come you cannot attach a pdf file to an email message, and WP8 has no file system? You can attach only photos to email messages?
And yes BlackBerry 10 has an Office App, namely DocumentsToGO in it.
For collaboration, it has WebEX.
BBM is much better and faster than what's app and supports video calling.
BlackBerry = Security
BlackBerry has data compression and roaming support in 200 countries, meaning it is always-connected to the internet without any roaming surchages for data usaseg, so as a businessperson I will go for BlackBerry 10.
Cheers!

Office App Documents ToGo you say. Well, is it directly connected to the cloud? Does it have EAS support? Does it have OneNote, Office 365, SharePoint, Word and Excel?
Collaboration? Does it have Rooms? Does it support Cloud Collaboration like SkyDrive? Web apps anyone?
BBM supports video calling? Does it has the userbase like Skype has?
Security you say? Does it have Secure Boot and BitLocker? Does it have Find my Phone to wipe it from anywhere?
Data compression? Does it have Data Sense
Does BB has Company Hub? Policiy enforcement?
You as a business person my dear sir, have no idea what Windows Phone has to offer to businesses. It integrates right out of the box with Windows based networks without any extra servers to install or maintain.
But two things Windows Phone has and BlackBerry does not, is USER EXPERIENCE and ECOSYSTEM. And last but not least: Nokia. Nuff said.

Microsoft *should* fear it, because right now, that's their main competition. Most users happy with their iPhones and Galaxy S' probably won't switch, but the customers up for grabs are former BB users, or those on the fence, and particularly the enterprise.
There isn't room for four mobile OS' and BB and Windows Phone will have to duke it out, tooth and nail.

I think Microsoft has to fear that website and the media will blowup the BB brand. There is a lot of bias against Microsoft. I see it time and time again. Time will tell weather this lesser technology will trump Windows phone. This is a good time for Microsoft to rethink its strategy.

So this video on Crackberry shows that to get to an app's settings, you can swipe from the left, from the top, and tap on the ... button to access 3 different setting menus. Brilliant. People get confused even with Windows 8's simple and universal gestures, I doubt all those gestures are going to work well on a phone for regular users (as compared to a tablet).

Looking at the actual hardware specs... Don't they basically share teh Qualcomm chipsets? As for software support? Well... Give it a few months. Can't judge an app library out of the gate.
One other thing. I'll grant the BB phones do look a bit unique, but not quite as wild as the Nokias.

Nice "Hit Piece" Daniel. You'll forgive me for not taking this article seriously, especially with all the rather large mistakes that are in it. Almost every category contained incorrect info. In fact I could show almost every one of your points is wrong, and show proof. It'd almost be worth the effort if it wasn't quite obvious that you're writing with extreme bias. Even the lukewarm Engadget review I could swallow, with a large glass of water. But yours is totally misinformed, and saturated with errors and somewhat ridiculous opinions.

I have been thinking, very dangerous I know. If BB is hoping to sell units at $200 a pop on contract it will be competing against iphone's, galaxy notes, and other high end mainstream phones, at least in the USA. Are the features that compelling for a user to switch? They seem at par with current dated market offerings. Market share also seems limited to certain countries. No low end device for emerging markets. The growth is in emerging markets. WP has this covered with 7 and 8. If we get people with their first device they will more likely consider wp in the future. Plus I heard availability will start in March. Within April Samsung will launch the galaxy IV. June Apple may release a new iphone. The tough hill to climb will continue for blackberry. In my company, only a few at the manager level hold onto a blackberry and it is not popular. CEO has an iPhone. Color me not impressed, two months of heavy crossfire will not help establishing the new phones.

Reading this article reminded me of why i like this site so much. Sure it's a little Windows Phone biased and that's ok, after all it's a Windows Phone Site, but it's never mean or rude. You give credit where credit is due and point out flaws where there really are flaws and don't just make stuff up. It's really nice that in this more and more heated world of consumer electronics where the obsession with companies and OSs boarders on religious believe there is still someone out there who is calm and has a cool head. Thanks

Hah, as long as WP isn't able to deliver a decend calendar, it remains a joke for business....
BB at least coud forge many things together others didn't.
Power Point on WP? Yes! But no HDMI out, etc. etc.

Just had to come on here from Crackberrry.com to have a laugh at the article.
Of any smartphone, WP has the least appeal... at least iPhones are getting into enterprise (and to a lesesser extent, Android)... WP? Nowhere to be seen. BB10 devices are already being accepted at launch in at least Canada's largest businesses.
What a joke of an article.

WP is the retarded cousin of the current smartphones. Its damn ugly, cluttered, unorganised and inefficient. The hardware from Nokia and HTC is good but they will have to pump out some mad specs to make phones running this joke of an OS appealing.